Dad had walked out a few months ago, so the house felt empty when Gabriel got home from school. He lit a cigarette and went upstairs. He put a Lester Jones record on and dreamed of making his movie before starting to chat to Archie, his twin brother who had died of meningitis.

Dad had played bass with Lester Jones during his glam rock phase in the 70s. "Your dadda has ringed," said Hannah. "He wants to meet you."

Dad took Gabriel back to his drum, a greasy bedsit. "I could have been a rock'n'roll contender," slurred dad.

The phone rang and Gabriel answered. "It's Lester Jones. He's writing his biography and wants to see you."

"Hi, man," drawled Lester, before ignoring dad. "Hey, Gabriel, you're like really creative like me. You have a gift. Have this extremely valuable drawing that took me 20 seconds to complete."

"Wow," said dad. "A Lester Jones. Give it to me."

"No."

"Wow," said mum, later. "A Lester Jones. Give it to me."

"No."

"Well, I'm taking it anyway."

"Psst," whispered Archie. "She's hidden it under her bed. You'll have to be careful though as she's having a drunken shag with George, her lover."

Gabriel retrieved the picture carefully and made two copies. He put one back under his mum's bed, gave one to his dad and kept the original.

"Like, I had to sell it to Speedy," sniffed dad. "I needed the bread."

"That's OK."

"Hey," said Speedy. "Jake Ambler, the famous film director, was asking if you could teach his son to play guitar."

"That's, like, uncool," said dad.

"Just do it," snapped Gabriel. "You won't get a better offer."

"Hello Gabriel," said dad a few weeks later. "I'm rather enjoying this teaching, young man. My Filofax is bursting with bookings." Gabriel noticed that George had stopped ringing his mother.

"Your father and I are getting back together," she confided later.

Gabriel smiled. He was going to become a world famous painter and film-maker after all.

And if you really are pressed: The digested read, digested: Co-dependent 15-year-old Buddha of Suburbia sorts out his parents' predictably dreary middle-aged rock'n'roll existential angst before embarking on his own